How did early Americans’ choices shape the America of today? How did their actions lead to and affect the life that we know in our nation? We can begin with looking at early Americans and how they used deception to take land from Indians. They took advantage of the Indians’ kindness for weakness. Americans wanted gold and fortune and allowed their greed to be their motivation. The Indians wanted peaceful interaction and respect for their lands. The American’s choices and treatment of the Indians led to the birth of racism and discrimination for our nation. Laws would eventually be put in place for protection of all citizens for this very reason. This is why I believe that the Indian Removal Act was a step in the wrong direction for …show more content…
Now some people may say that the Americans needed the land for their expanding population. Even though the Americans needed the land, they didn’t need to kill or hurt the Indians. The Trail of Tears resulted in over 4,000 Indians dying while moving west. Indians were discriminated and treated unequally and resulted in loss of land and life. This led to action to help protect citizens against abuse. Today’s laws help to protect citizens equally against abuse of power and unjust treatment by the government. Some believe that people in power will always take advantage of others. This is why laws are put in place to protect us. The 13th and 14th Amendments which abolished slavery and gave equal protection of the laws to citizens are prime examples of these laws. Laws are part of our Constitution and protect citizens. We have to take responsibility and accountability for choices in order to better our future. The Indian Removal Act was a step in the wrong direction for our nation because it took advantage of helpless Indians, unjustly removed them from their lands, and was the birth of true racism and discrimination among our citizens. To summarize, early Americans took advantage of the Indians and their lands which led to the beginning of racism and discrimination among citizens, and then laws were established to protect citizens against abuse of